Fertilizer composition.



LOUIS L. JACKSON, NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ODUS C. HOBNEY,

' OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FERTILIZER CCMPOSITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

No Drawing. Original application filed June 16, 1916, Serial No. 104,105. Divided and this application filed Hat-oh 17, 1917. Serial No. 155,388.

T '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis L. JACKSON,- a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fertilizer Compositions,

of which the following is afull, clear, and

exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a composition which is adapted for use as a fertilizer or which may be readily treated to adapt it for such use.

The preparation of the novel composition presents serious difiiculties and it is therefore necessary that the process by which I have succeeeded in making the composition should be set forth in detail.

The process may be divided into two steps, first, the digesting process wherein the silicates are treated with a hydrate of an alkaline earth metal, preferably calcium, or a hydrate of an alkali metal, or a mixture of the same, and water, and subjected to heat and pressure; and, second, the treatment of the product of the digestion. The second treatment will vary with the specific product desired and involves the practice of different alternative processes havingindependent features but all having also characteristics in common.

I will describe the application of the process to a feldspar which may be assumed,

without taking into account the presence, in

small proportions of other ingredients and some impurities, to consist essentially of the silicates of potassium, sodium and aluminum.

I take a certai u quantity of feldspar finely ground, a slightly larger quantity of lime, and mix the same with water in an amount by weight (say) about six times the weight of the lime. The wholeis thoroughly incorporated and the mass, while confined, is

subjected to a temperature of (say) 200 degrees centigra'de for (say) ten hours.

The above treatmentis described more in detail in anapplication filed by me June 16, 1916, Serial No. 103,973.

At the end of the digestion the product may be treated in a variety of ways to produce various specific embodiments of my new composition. These treatments, independent of the novelty of the products. resulting therefrom, are no el and a e described and claimed in an application filed by me June 16, 1916, Serial No. 104,105, of which this application is a division. The said treatments may be described as follows, although it will be understood that I do not intend to confine myself to the specific treatments described to produce the products herein described and claimed:

1. The product of digestion is filtered and the solution filtered out, treated with carbonic (or other) acid, evaporated to drysequent treatment to aluminum hydrate.

The dried alkali metal'salts obtained above are added to the cake from the carbonic acid treatment and the finished product will then contain calcium" silicate, calcium carbonate, aluminum hydrate, potassium and sodium salts, and any undecomposed feldspar. In other words, there will be present all the elements of feldspar, in a soluble or readily decomposable form, plus calcium carbonate, the latter in the form of precipitated chalk, which is a much better landdressing than ground limestone.

2. The process is the same as (1) except that the amount of, gas used issuflicient to convert all calcium present to calcium carbonate. The finished product will then contain silicon hydrate, aluminum hyd'rate,1calcium carbonate, potassium and sodium salts, and any undecomposed feldspar.

It 'isevident that any amount of gas between the two quantities specified 'in' (1) and (2) may be used. In practice it would be necessary to-use a little more than what is theoretically suflicient "to convert the alkali metal and calcium hydrate into, carbonates, in order to insure not getting a caustic product.

3. The product of digestion is filtered and the solution filtered out treated with carbonic (or other) acid, evaporated to dryness, and used later as hereinafter chescgibed.

The filter cake is treated with sulfuric acid using sufficient acid to neutralize the calcium hydrate; present. The mass is filtered, the liquor (containing nothing but a little calcium-sulfate) thrown away, and the cake is dried mixed with the alkali metal salts ob- 'tained as described above, .and powdered.

The product will contain calcium sulfate,

calcium silicate, aluminum hydrate, potassium. and sodium salts and undecomposed feldspar, in other words, all the elements of feldspar in a soluble or readily decomposable form, plus precipitated calcium sulfate,

'the latter being superior to ground gypsum.

4, The product of digestion'is filtered and the solution filtered out treated with carbonic (or other) acid, evaporated to dryness, and used later as hereinafter described. The filter cake is treated with suflicient waste sulfuric acid to combine with all the calcium present. The mass is filtered out, the liquor (containing nothing but a little calcium sulfate) is thrown away, and the cake is dried, mixed with the alkali metal salts obtained as described above, and powdered. The product will contain calcium'sulfate, silica, aluminum hydrate, potassium and sodium salts and any undecomposed feldspar.

v 5. The product of digestion-is filtered and the solution filtered out treated with carbonic (or other) acid, evaporated to dryness, and used later as hereinafter described. The filter cake is treated with sufficient waste sulfuric acid to combine with all the calcium present. When all the calciumhas been converted into sulfate, the mass is filtered, and the liquor thrown away. The cakeis treated with sufiicient. additionalsulfuric acid to dissolve the aluminum hydrate, .is filtered again, and. this liquor is concentrated to recover the aluminum sulfate either as such 01' by the additionof the requisite amount of ammonium or potassium sulfate as ammonium or potassium alum.

' The ,cake is mixed with the alkali metal salts obtained as described above, dried and powdered. The product will contain calcium sulfate, silica, sodium and potassium salts and undecomposed feldspar.

It is clear that mixture-s between those specified in and (4) and in and may-be made. In practice tliere is bound to be some admixture.

I 6. The product of digestion is filtered and the solution treated with carbonic (oi-other) acid, evaporated t dryness, and used later as- 'hereinafterdescribed. The filter cake is .then;1-'treated with a solution of niter cake (substantially NaHSOQ in quantity suflicie nt'to convert the calcium hydrate present nto calcium sulfate .and the niter cake used I into sodium sulfate. The mass is filtered and the liquor is concentrated and the sodium sul- V fate is recovered from it. The cake is dried,

mixed with the alkali metal "salts obtained '(wasteacid) of any convenient strength,

as described above, andthe'mixture powdered. The products are': (a) sodium sulfate, and (b) a fertilizer in all respects like that produced in process (3).

7. The broduct of digestion is filtered and the solution treated with carbonic '(or other) acid, evaporated to dryness, and used later as hereinafter described. The filter cake is then treated with a solution of niter cake in quantity sufiicientfto convert all-the calcium present int calcium sulfate and the niter cake used into sodium sulfate. The mass is filtered and the liquor is concentrated and the sodium sulfate is recovered from it. The cake is dried, mixed with the alkali metal salts obtained as described above, and the mitxure powdered. 4 (a) sodium sulfate, and (b) a fertilizer in all respects like that produced in process (4) 8. The product of digestion is filtered and The products are:'

v the solution treated with carbonic (or other) acid, evaporated to dryness and used later in quantity sufficient to convert all the cal-1- cium present into calcium sulfate, the aluminum hydrate formed into sodium alum and the niter cake used into sodium sulfate. The niter cake is added in two stages. Sufficient niter cake is first added to convert all the calcium to sulfate (practically no alumina will be dissolved up to this point) and the mass is filtered. recovered from the liquors filtered out. The cake may be washed slightly (although washing is 'not necessary at this stage) and is again suspended in water and treated with suflicient niter cake to dissolve the alumina. The mass is again filtered and the cake washed thoroughly-finally with a little lime watert remove all traces of acidity, and dried: This liquor is concentrated and the aluminumsulfate separated from the sodium sulfate by crystallization as sodiunialum, or preferably after the addition of the calculated amount of potassium or ammonium sulfate as potassium or ammonium alum. The cake is dried, mixed with the alkali metal salts obtained as described above, and the mixture powdered. The products are: (a) sodium sulfate, (b) alum, and (c) a fertilizer-in all respects like that produced in process (5).

9. If, in practising the processes (3), (4:) and (5), the waste sulfuric-acid contains a considerable percentage of nitric acid, theprocedure is slightly modified. In processes (3), (4)and (5) the. liquor is not thrown away, as it contains calcium nitrate, which can be recovered as such and added to the fertilizer. Alternatively, by adding the solution of alkali metal carbonates to the solution of calcium nitrate, calcium carbonate Sodium sulfate is be obtained and added to the dried cake.

The fertilizer thus produced will contain nitrates but in other respects will be the same as if sulfuric acid alone were used.

10. By still another modified process the potassium hydrate may be converted into potassium nitrate and then utilized to precooled, and then saturated with C0 The potassium carbonate thus becomes converted to potassium bicarbonate. A strong, preferably saturated, solution of potassium bicarbonate is mixed with a strong, preferably "saturated, solution of sodium nitrate, the

f two salts being used in molecular proportioii. Bydouble decomposition, sodium bicarbonate and potassium nitrate are formed. The sodium bicarbonate, being sparingly soluble, separates and is filtered out, while the potassium nitrate is recovered from the filtrate by concentration, cooling and crys- 1 ntion. It is evident that the strong so lution of otassium carbonate may be first mixed with the strong solution of sodium nitrate and the mixture then saturated with CO and then the same products will be formed as described above. This potassium nitrate may of course be used as an adjuvant to any of the fertilizers described.

To facilitate the practice of the process, they following specific information may be given with respect to the exact procedure in practising treatment (8) l Feldspanfinely powdered, 100 parts, and

lime, 125 parts, are mixed thoroughly with water, 800 parts. The mixture is digested for eight hours at 215 pounds pressure. The

result is that about-92 per cent. of the feld spar is decomposed.

The insoluble matter is washed. free from alkali metal. hydrate. The alkaline liquor andwashings are concentrated and neutralized with carbon dioxid or sulfuric acid (any other acid can be used in commercial practice) and evaporated to dryness. About 23 parts of dried product are obtained. The cake is suspended in water and treated with afifty per cent. solution of 543 parts of niter cake. This is filtered and the residue washed slightly. The solution and washings are concentrated and allowed to crystallize. About 545 parts of Glauber salt are separated. The cake is again suspended in water, a fifty per cent. solution of 150 parts'of niter cake is added, thoroughly digested, filtered,

and the residue is thoroughly washed finally with a little lime water to remove all. acidity. The liquor and washings are concentrated, 22 parts of ammonlum sulfate are added and the liquor is allowed to crystallize. About 78.5 parts of ammoniumalum are obtained from the crystallization. The residue dried weighs about L00 parts, which with the 23 parts of alkali metal salt, brings the amount of fertilizer to about $23 parts.

The liquor from the crystallization of the alum and the crystallization of the sodium sulfate are joined and from the mixture is obtained about 300 parts of crystals containing about parts of alum and 280 parts of sodium sulfate.

By precipitated calcium silicate I mean calcium silicate formed in the presenceof water and then dried by heat but not ignited.

By precipitated aluminum hydrate I mean. aluminum hydrate formed in the presence of water and then dried by heat but not ignited.

By precipitated silicon hydrate I mean the product formed by drying by heat but not igniting the precipitated hydrate.

Even though the carbonates of potassium and sodium are actually added in treatments 3, 4.- and 5, asitliey well might be to insure absence of free acid in the finished product, and while I have included carbonates of potassium and sodium as constituents of the finished product, it is doubtful whether they actually exist therein, as in the presence of moisture calcium sulfate decomposes thecarbonates of the alkali metals, forming sulfates of these metals and calcium carbonate.

Having now fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A COIH' IOSllllOIl for fertilizing purposes containing a precipitated salt of calcium, a

precipitated compound of silicon, and potassium nitrate.

4. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing a precipitated salt of calcium, a precipitated compound of silicon and a precipitated compound of aluminum.

A composition for fertilizing purposes containing a precipitated salt of calcium, a 1

precipitated compound of silicon, a precipitated compound of aluminum, and a salt of potassium.

6. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing a precipitated salt of calcium, a

precipitated compound of silicon, a precipitated compound of aluminum, and potas-' sium nitrate.

7. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing precipitated calcium silicate, another precipitated salt of calcium, and precipitated aluminum hydrate.

8. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing precipitated calcium silicate,'another precipitated salt of calcium, precipi- 'tated aluminum hydrate and a salt of potassium.

' 9. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing precipitated calcium silicate, an-

5 other precipitated salt of calcium, precip tate'd aluminum hydrate. and potassium'mtrate. I

10. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing precipitated calcium carbonate, precipitated calcium silicate and precipitated aluminum hydrate.

11. A composition for fertilizing purposes containing precipitated calcium carbonate,

precipitated calcium silicate,- precipitated Louis L. JACKSON. 

